• by Ken Liebeskind , May 15, 2002

NBC led CBS in the Nielsens during the past week of the May sweeps, thanks mainly to a big episode of E.R., the top show for the week with a 28 share, 10.6 household rating and nearly 29 million viewers. The show helped NBC win the top prime average for the week with a 14 share and 8.4 household, better than CBS (13/7.9), ABC (10/6) and Fox (8/5).

NBC's Friends, Law and Order, Will & Grace and West Wing also made the top ten. CBS's CSI, Survivor and Raymond were also there.

ABC's Dinotopia, a miniseries special that will become a regular series this fall, ranked 11th.

Cable winners for the most recent week were Osbournes (MTV), WWF Entertainment (TNN), Real World (MTV) and Winston Cup Race (FX). Osbournes scored a 3.8 household, with 4 million viewers.

Syndicated winners for the most recent week were Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, Friends, Oprah Winfrey Show and Judge Judy. Wheel scored a 9.0 household with 9.4 million viewers.

The NBA playoffs on NBC won four of the top five sports shows for the most recent week. The leader was the Kentucky Derby, also on NBC, which scored a 21 share with an 8.3 household.

The networks are cramming their lineups with specials for the sweeps period, but this week's top 10 were all regularly scheduled shows.